PBS Teachers

       Living in this 21st Century, we use the internet and other technology for just about everything.  Never mind the fact that most of the sites we frequent probably do not hold much educational value.  For teachers, however, the internet is simply an incredible place.  There are many websites that offer educational tips, advice, or even personal stories.  Although, there is one website that really stands alone as one of the best educational websites in existence.  It is www.pbs.org/teachers.  Anything a teacher may need, this website will have it.  PBS Teachers contains a very user-friendly layout, where teachers have immediate access to all of their teaching needs.  At the top of the screen, there are drop-down tabs labeled: PreK, K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12.  Within each of these tabs is a list of subjects, including The Arts, Health & Fitness, Math, Reading, Science & Tech, and Social Studies.  

This is where the website really flexes its muscles and establishes itself as a fantastic educational website.  Let’s say you want to research 3rd Grade Math.  You can easily choose “Math” from the 3-5 drop-down menu and then explore.  There are 3 different categories to evaluate.  First, there is Classroom Resources, which includes over 50 pages of lesson plans, ideas for projects, worksheets, etc.  Basically anything you may need for a Math lesson, this section will have it.  Next, there is the Discussions tab.  Here, you will find recent, relevant discussion boards created and replied to by real-life teachers.  This is just another way for teachers to collaborate and share ideas/tips in order to help children succeed.  Once again, there are many pages filled with useful information.  Finally, there is the Professional Development tab.  This is a place where teachers can go to research different instructional strategies, and other important classroom environmental needs.  In addition to all of this extremely valuable information, there are side advertisements for other classroom essentials.  These may include videos, activity packs, and more!

I, personally, am looking forward to teaching somewhere between 1st and 3rd grade.  If I am able to teach the lower end of elementary school, I will be teaching a wide variety of subjects, such as Math, Language Arts, and Social Studies.  PBS Teachers is a great place to go because I can find lesson plans or activities for any subject I need!  For example, if I want to teach a Language Arts lesson that deals with spelling and reading, I can use this Fruit lesson plan.  This specific lesson will teach students to be able to recall the names of different types of fruits.  Also, they will put the fruits in alphabetical order and make educated guesses about different fruit facts.  This lesson plan requires a worksheet with each letter of the alphabet followed by space to write down the names of fruits.  Students will also need a pencil.  This is a great way for students to work on reading, writing, and spelling, all while having fun and learning interesting facts about fruit!

Another great thing about PBS Teachers is the interactive websites.  Let’s say it is now time for the daily Math lesson.  I can go on PBS Teachers and pull up this interactive website, called How Big Are You? that deals with measuring and Life Science.  The Students are able to watch a fun and interesting website that also teaches them certain skills.  In this particular lesson, students will observe two different animals on a line.  They can make educated guesses as to how long one animal is based on the length of the other animal.  This is a really fun way to help teach the students about measuring and proportions.  Also, they get to learn about real-life animals in the process!  Kids love these types of interactive websites and they are very effective as well.  

Finally, if I’ve reached the Social Studies portion of the day, I can pull up this video that teaches the kids about several different US cities.  Wilson and Ditch have a fantastic variety of videos that the children can watch to learn about cities and their particular cultures.  This is something that will keep the student entertained, all the while teaching very useful information.  I can go to the Wilson and Ditch homepage and then click on whichever city I want to learn about!  This is just one more reason why PBS Teachers is the best educational website available to teachers and their classrooms.